Champion ability
An ability is a unique action (as opposed to summoner spells / active ability items) performed by and only available to a champion ( and are currently the only examples of non-champion units with abilities) Each of these special moves make up a portion of a champion's 'kit'. Champion Kits Every champion kit (with some exceptions) follows the same basic structure: an innate with no ranks, three basic abilities with five ranks each, and an ultimate with three ranks. * Available as soon as the game starts, innate abilities passively affects a champion for the entire match but cannot be ranked up at will, often scaling with their owners' level to compensate. ** Innates sometimes feature a unique mechanic that helps define a champion's playstyle. * Available from level 1 and controlled by the - - keys, basic abilities are learned over the course of the game by ranking them up after every level-up, the earliest for maxing one out being level 9 (current rank cannot be higher than half the champion's rounded out level, limiting each new new for the same ability to every odd, single-digit level) * Available from level 6 (can only be ranked up again at levels 11 and 16 at the least) and controlled by the key, ultimates are considered a champion's strongest, most characteristic, and most game-changing ability. ** Ultimate abilities feature a HUD indicator attached to the champion's portrait (can be set to appear on top of the minimap or on the left of the screen) letting allies know the state of each other's ultimate cooldowns (black if not learned yet, gray when on cooldown, green when ready to cast) * : Is classified as ultimate for ultimate-interaction abilities or items. Such as , . Components : Any given ability can possess one or more of the following components (combinations may vary) * Abilities increase in potency and/or strength through a portion of a certain stats champions acquire via items and/or runes. * Most abilities require the champion to expend a resource cost (mana, energy, health, or others) in order to be cast, becoming unable to do so if they possess less than the required amount (the ability's HUD icon will turn gray) ** Toggles continuously consume a resource until the ability is toggled off manually or does so automatically upon resource depletion. ** Resourceless champions only have cooldowns as their ability 'costs'. * Champions must wait a certain length of time before they can use the same ability again. This wait can be shortened by purchasing cooldown reduction (maximum 40%, increased to 45% with ) * Some abilities run on charges (as opposed to a cooldown) in order to be used. ** Stock: Activation charges are generated periodically up to a maximum (recharge time is affected by cooldown reduction) ** Barrage: Charges are generated upon activating the ability, and are available for the duration (all unused charges are lost when it ends). Used charges incur no additional resource costs, but are gated with static recast cooldowns. * How many units the caster and the target (unit / location) must be from one another in order for the ability to be cast / to hit (hitbox collision detection determines if the range used is or ) ** In-game tooltips do not display either range or targeting (can only be seen by placing the cursor over an ability's icon on the HUD) ** Some ultimate abilities feature an unlimited global range, allowing champions to be a threat to their enemies from anywhere on the map and/or to assist their allies from afar. * The champion is unable to perform any other actions for a brief period of time until the ability takes effect (can only be interrupted by the champion's death or by some crowd control effects) * The champion must not perform any other actions for a brief period of time in order for the ability to take full effect (can be interrupted by the caster themselves or by most crowd control effects) ** Interrupted channels will not refund the ability's cost but may have it go on a reduced cooldown (happens with some point-and-click abilities if the affected enemy dies or becomes untargetable during the channel) * Must be cast at a target unit / location / direction in order to be used (innate abilities never feature this component) * Affects the champion without any specific input required on their part. ** Auras passively affects nearby units (allies, enemies, both) within a certain range. * Allows the champion to cycle the ability between 'on' and 'off' status, activating and (willingly/forcefully) disabling it or swapping an effect for another. ** Most toggles do not trigger or charge but do stack . * The champion 'shapeshifts' themselves and/or their abilities, gaining persistent effects (mutually exclusive) and/or temporary ones (may overlap by gaining high cooldown reduction) while losing others. ** Rapid stance-swapping is usually regulated by a brief global cooldown in order to prevent a champion from continually accumulating temporary effects. ** Some stances replace temporary effects by granting completely different basic abilities based on the active stance. * Champions can bring forth other units to assist them and/or their allies. * Abilities within a champion's kit can interact with certain actions and/or each other for synergistic effects and results. ** Most abilities apply spell vamp and/or spell effects from items. *** A select few apply on-hit effects (but only if specifically stated to be able to do so) ** Stacking allows to permanently / temporarily increase an ability's potency and/or strength by repeated uses, unit kills (their health reduced below 0, other conditions may apply) and/or combining them with basic attacks. ** The caster's death can allow them to trigger revive and/or 'revenge' effect. Effects : Any given ability can possess one or more of the following effects (combinations may vary) * Enhances offensive and/or defensive aspects. ** Damage allows champions to kill minions, monsters, and each other in order to obtain gold to become stronger. *** A champion can temporarily take reduce damage in response, enhancing their own durability and gaining protection from and attacks (but remaining vulnerable to ) ** Crowd control effects hinder and/or disable a champion's fighting capabilities. *** A champion can become temporarily immune to some or all these effects in response. ** Buffs affect the caster and/or their allies for their benefit. ** Debuffs affect the caster's enemies for their detriment. * Enhances non-combat aspects. ** Blinks and dashes allow champions to move through otherwise solid obstacles/terrain in the same way as using does. ** Healing provides a means of sustains through combat. ** Shields enhance survivability by absorbing damage to prevent health loss. ** Stealth grants or to avoid enemy detection. ** Invulnerability gives immunity to enemy damage sources (crowd control is still effective) ** Untargetability gives immunity to enemy focus fire (damage over time and delayed damage debuffs can still apply if durations and circumstances permit) Trivia Innate abilities * , , , , , and are the only innate abilities featuring two independent effects. ** , , and are the only innate abilities that allow for post-mortem activity. * and are the only innate abilities with two effects that stack with others and/or with abilities. * has the most independent effects (four). * , and are the only summon innate abilities. * , , and are the only stance innate abilities. * and are the only innate abilities that generate a new item for their owner. * is currently the only ability preventing a champion from purchasing an item. is currently the only ability preventing a champion from selling an item. Basic abilities * basic abilities can each be ranked up six times. ** can be ranked up six times. ** basic abilities (he has no ultimate) are stances that grant both persistent and temporary effects (each can be ranked up five times). * basic abilities each have two parts. * and are currently the champions can truly evolve their abilities to new abilities. ** With and , it is probably more like improvement. * / , , / , , , , / , and / , are stance abilities that 'shapeshift' their wielders, granting them one or more extra basic abilities. ** and 'shapeshift' both their wielders and basic abilities. ** allows only a single stance change per game. Ultimate abilities * , , , , , , , and ultimate abilities each have two differing casts within a single ability usage. ** This excludes ultimates that are repeatable, toggleable or terminable by their second cast. * , , , , , , , , , , and are the only global ultimate abilities. * / and are all available at level 1 and each has four ranks (levels 1, 6, 11, and 16). ** / is available at level 1 and has only one rank. ** only having two ranks (levels 6 and 11). Pseudo-Ultimate abilities * * / Others * , , , and are the only abilities that provide pure invulnerability. ** , , , (non-champions only), and grant invulnerability through effect. de:Fähigkeiten es:Habilidad de campeón fr:Compétence pl:Umiejętność pt-br:Habilidade ru:Умение чемпиона zh:英雄技能 Category:Gameplay elements Category:Abilities Category:Champions